Cloudflare WAF Alternatives in 2026

Cloudflare is a leading global web infrastructure and cybersecurity company. It is widely used to improve the performance, reliability, and security of websites and internet applications, including protection against DDoS attacks, malicious bots, and common web exploits.

Cloudflare is a strong choice for many teams because it combines performance and security in one platform, with fast rollout and broad coverage. For SMBs, it is often the fastest way to get CDN, DDoS resilience, and baseline WAF protections live without heavy engineering effort. For enterprises, it is commonly adopted for edge standardization across multiple sites and regions.

Disclosure and perspective: Our observations in this guide are based on public documentation and anonymized patterns we see during customer migrations away from Cloudflare across plan tiers, including Cloudflare Enterprise. 

If you are reading this guide, the intent is likely not “is Cloudflare good?” The intent is that your requirements changed. The most common trigger we see is that the operational burden and risk tolerance shift as traffic grows, APIs expand, compliance expectations rise, and false positives become more expensive. 

Below are the most common reasons teams reassess Cloudflare, split by what typically shows up in enterprise vs SMB environments.

Reasons Why You Might Want to Switch from Cloudflare WAF

Cloudflare is a strong platform and it is a good starting point for many teams. Most switches happen when requirements change. The two common triggers are:

1. Enterprises need a more outcome-owned security operating model for false positives, incident handling, and application and API security depth, even when they are already on Enterprise plan. 
2. SMBs outgrow the Pro or Business operating model as traffic, APIs, and compliance pressure increase.

Below are the most common reasons teams reassess Cloudflare based on customers who have migrated to AppTrana. 

False positive monitoring and ongoing tuning

Security controls need continuous tuning because applications change and attackers change. One challenge in any large-scale WAF network is that managed rules are designed to be broadly applicable. That can lead to false positives on business-critical flows like login, checkout, search, and APIs. 

A common source of frustration is the gap between “managed rules” and “managed outcomes.” Managed rules are vendor-maintained signatures and rule updates. Even when a vendor provides managed rule packs, most guidance for false positives still boils down to customer-owned work: testing, tuning, adding exclusions, and running in count or monitor mode until you are confident. That is not “managed protection” unless someone is accountable for doing it for your specific application.  

For enterprises, false positives become expensive because they affect customer experience, revenue-critical flows, and internal credibility. The problem is rarely “rule quality” alone. It is operational ownership: who continuously tunes policies for your specific application, how quickly changes are applied, and how reliably you can keep protection in block mode without disrupting the business. 

For SMBs, false positives are hard because security is often a part-time responsibility and there is limited time to tune rules safely on production traffic. The WAF often ends up staying in log-only mode or being loosened to reduce disruption, which reduces real-time risk reduction. 

Look for an operating model where false-positive monitoring and tuning is a defined, owned motion, not an occasional task that depends on spare engineering time

DDoS Monitoring and Expert Help During Attacks 

Cloudflare’s DDoS mitigation is widely trusted, but many switching decisions are triggered by the incident experience, not the mitigation capability.

Cloudflare’s documented support channels vary by plan: 

• Free: community support is recommended; technical support cases are generally not available except for billing, account, and registrar issues.  
• Pro: you can open a support case, but chat and emergency phone are not available.  
• Business: support cases and live chat are available, but emergency phone is not.  
• Enterprise: support case and chat are available, and Cloudflare documents an Emergency Phone line for emergencies such as site outages or DDoS attacks. 

Even with higher-tier support, some enterprises want an outcome-owned model where the provider actively runs the incident playbook, not just provides a platform and a ticketing path. This includes mitigation changes, verification, and post-incident hardening to reduce repeat events.

For SMBs, during an active DDoS or bot-driven outage, lower-tier support channels can feel insufficient when you need hands-on guidance and fast escalation. The practical outcome is slower triage, slower mitigation changes, and longer business impact. 

Prioritize options that include 24×7 monitoring, clear escalation, and a defined incident workflow (detect, mitigate, verify, harden) that the provider executes consistently. 

Discover the top Cloudflare DDoS alternatives and DDoS protection software to enhance your website’s security.

Virtual Patching as A Service

Most modern teams need a way to reduce vulnerability exposure quickly when new vulnerabilities are discovered, especially when code fixes take time. Some vendors call this virtual patching, and it becomes a major switching trigger when it is not operationalized.

Virtual patching is often discussed as if it is a simple toggle. In practice, it only works at enterprise scale when there is an end-to-end workflow that connects vulnerability discovery to protection, with visibility and accountability. 

To make virtual patching work reliably, teams typically need: 

1. DAST findings integrated into the WAF workflow 
2. A dashboard view that shows how many vulnerabilities are currently protected at the edge 
3. A clear view of which open vulnerabilities are eligible for virtual patching 
4. Automation that creates and deploys virtual patches, with testing and rollback built in 

What we see in real Cloudflare environments is that this workflow is hard to achieve without additional effort: 

• Step 1 requires extra integration work 
• Steps 2 and 3 often require custom reporting or custom development to get the visibility enterprises want 
• Step 4 is frequently a manual process that depends on support workflows, and the turnaround expectations for virtual patching are not always explicit or consistent 

Security and IT teams are not only asking “can virtual patching be done.” They are asking “is the vulnerability-to-mitigation loop operationalized, measurable, and predictable.” If it is not, exposure windows stay open longer than intended, and security outcomes remain dependent on ad hoc manual effort. 

Before choosing an alternative, ask vendors to show a sample vulnerability-to-virtual-patch workflow, including reporting, ownership, and the SLA for deploying mitigations on application-specific findings.

Request Inspection Size

Cloudflare documents that WAF request body analysis is capped by plan, and for Enterprise zones the maximum body size inspected by the WAF is 128 KB. For API-heavy applications that routinely send larger JSON payloads, this becomes a real coverage gap because body-based inspection and rules only apply to the portion that is actually analyzed.

This is a common switching trigger for teams that want consistent inspection depth for APIs and business-critical workflows without redesigning payloads or relying on workarounds.

Response Time Out

Cloudflare enforces an origin response timeout for proxied traffic. This becomes a switching driver when your application has legitimate long-running requests (exports, report generation, large computations, slow upstream dependencies). When those flows time out at the edge, teams are forced into workarounds that complicate architecture and operations.

If your main decision is still “upgrade within Cloudflare vs switch,” link to our Cloudflare Pro vs Business guide for the SMB upgrade path. If one or more of the reasons above match your production reality, you are likely already in switching territory, and the next sections will help you evaluate alternatives based on operating model, not feature lists. 

The 30-Second Decision Guide: Which Cloud WAF Operating Model Fits Your Team?

Choosing a Cloudflare alternative is not about comparing feature lists.
It is about deciding who owns the ongoing work of keeping WAF protection accurate as applications change.

Rules drift. Releases happen. False positives appear.
Use this guide to understand which operating model fits your team before reviewing individual alternatives.

1. The “Zero-Ops” Defender (Outcome and Accuracy Focused)

Who you are:
You want strong protection with minimal false positives, and you do not want WAF rule maintenance to become a recurring problem. You may be an enterprise or an SMB without dedicated WAF specialists, and breaking legitimate production traffic is not acceptable.

The Recommendation:
AppTrana (Fully Managed Cloud WAF / WAAP)

Why:
This model addresses one of the most common reasons teams look beyond Cloudflare, which is the operational burden of continuous tuning and maintenance.

How it works:
Automated scanning continuously identifies exploitable weaknesses. A managed SOC team validates real threats and applies virtual patches at the WAF layer, blocking attacks immediately while allowing developers to fix code safely on their own timelines.

Key Benefit:
Consistent protection with low false positives, without owning day-to-day WAF accuracy.

2. The “Self-Operated Stack” Model (Control With Cost and Discipline)

Who you are:
You prefer direct control over security configuration and are willing to operate multiple services together. Cloudflare’s model did not fail technically, but it requires consistent effort your team must sustain.

The Recommendation:
Self-managed cloud WAF platforms such as AWS WAF or Azure WAF

Why:
These platforms give you granular rule control and native cloud integration. Teams with mature DevOps and security processes can maintain this model effectively if rule updates and reviews are treated as ongoing work.

Reality Check:
In a self-operated model, WAF is only one part of the stack. For example, in AWS environments, full DDoS protection typically requires AWS Shield Advanced, which costs around $3000 per month with an annual commitment. Bot protection, API security, and monitoring are often handled through additional services or custom logic. Over time, cost and operational complexity increase alongside control.

This is usually the point where teams reassess whether they want to continue operating security or shift to a managed alternative.

3. The “Complex Enterprise” (Legacy, Scale, and Hybrid)

Who you are:
You operate a distributed environment with cloud applications, legacy systems, and on-prem workloads. Visibility, discovery, and centralized governance matter more than ease of setup.

The Recommendation:
Akamai, Imperva, or AppTrana

Why:
These platforms are designed for environments where coverage and discovery are persistent challenges.

Akamai is well suited for large-scale, high-traffic environments that require deep behavioral analysis.
Imperva is effective when legacy and on-prem applications must be protected alongside modern cloud workloads.
AppTrana fits enterprises that want broad hybrid coverage while minimizing additional internal security operations.

4. The “Hands-On” Engineer (Programmable and Custom)

Who you are:
You have experienced engineers who want fine-grained control over how traffic is inspected and blocked. You prefer flexibility and programmability over abstraction.

The Recommendation:
Programmable WAF platforms such as Fastly

Why:
These tools allow teams to write custom logic for traffic inspection and enforcement, enabling precise control for unique use cases.

Trade-off:
Security quality depends entirely on how well that logic is maintained over time, which requires ongoing engineering effort.

Fifteen Cloudflare Alternatives to Consider

1. AppTrana
2. Akamai
3. Imperva
4. Fastly
5. AWS WAF
6. Radware
7. Barracuda
8. Azure WAF
9. Fortiweb
10. F5
11. ThreatX
12. Palo Alto
13. Sucuri
14. Google Cloud Armor
15. ModSecurity(Open Source)

A Quick Snapshot Comparison for the Top 5 Cloudflare Alternatives

 

WAF Feature	Cloudflare	AppTrana	Akamai	Imperva	Fastly	AWS WAF
Gartner Peer Insights Rating	4.5	4.9	4.7	4.7	4.9	4.4
Gartner Peer Insights Customer Recommendation Rating	93%	100%	88%	92%	97%	90%
DDoS Monitoring	Enterprise Only	Available	Add-On	Add-On	Ultimate Plan only	$3000 per month
Virtual Patching	Self managed	Starts at $99	Add-On	Add-On	Ultimate Plan only	–
Autonomous Vulnerability Remediation	No	Yes	No	No	No	No
Payload Inspection Size	128KB	134MB	Starts: 8KB Max: 128KB	Unknown	Unknown	64KB
Custom Port Support	Limited	Fully managed custom port support	80/443 Only	Yes	80/443 Only	Yes, but needs advanced, self-service configuration
NTLM Support	No	Yes	No	Unknown	Unknown	No
Bot Protection	Yes	Yes	Add-On	Not available in essentials Add-on in Professional Bundled in Enterprise Plan	Yes, but unsure whether it is bundled in all plans	Basic
Response Timeout	Default: 120 seconds Enterprise: 6000 seconds	Default: 300 seconds   Max: 300 seconds	Default: 120 seconds   Max: 599 seconds	Default: 360 seconds Max: Unknown	Default: 60 seconds   Max: 300 Seconds	Default: 30 seconds   Max: 300 seconds
Managed Services / 24*7 SOC	Enterprise only	Available	Add-On	Add-On	Ultimate Plan only	Only through SI partnerships
DAST Scanner	Not Available	Bundled in all plans	Not Available	Not Available	Not Available	Not Available
Malware Scanner	Available	Available	Available	Not Available	Not Available	Not Available
Asset Monitoring	Not Available	Bundled in all plans	Not Available	Not Available	Not Available	Not Available
Penetration Testing	Not Available	Available	Not Available	Not Available	Not Available	Not Available
API discovery	Available	Available	Available	Available as an Add-On	Available	Not Available
API Security	Available	Available	Available	Available	Available	Basic capabilities through API Gateway
API Scanning	Not Available	Available	Not Available	Not Available	Not Available	Not Available
API Pen Testing	Not Available	Available	Not Available	Not Available	Not Available	Not Available
Workflow-based bot mitigation	Enterprise only	Available	Add-On	Add-On	Ultimate Plan only	Only through SI partnerships
Origin Protection	Add-on	Bundled in all plans	Add-On	Not Available	Add-on	Available
SwyftComply	Not Available	Available	Not Available	Not Available	Not Available	Not Available
Client-side Protection	Available	Available	Available	Available	Not Available	Not Available
Custom Error Page	Available	Available	Available	Available	Available	Available
DNSSEC	Available	Available	Available	Available	Not Available	Not Available

Ratings and recommendation percentages change over time. Use them as directional signals and verify the current values directly on Gartner Peer Insights before making a decision. 

The Top Five Alternatives to Cloudflare: In-Depth Comparison

1. AI Powered AppTrana WAAP

Out of all the WAAP providers, AppTrana is the most cost-effective, with feature parity to Cloudflare’s offerings.

Here are some of the pros of using AppTrana:

SwyftComply

With SwyftComply on AppTrana WAAP, autonomously remediated open vulnerabilities. This means your security reports for audits will be clean and have zero vulnerabilities instantly.

It deals with all types of vulnerabilities, even those from third-party software you use. So, staying compliant, and keeping your website safe is now simpler than ever.

Bundled Managed Services

Whether it is DDoS monitoring, virtual patches, or false positive testing, the security research team of AppTrana always has your back.

In fact, it is the only WAAP vendor who talks about:

1. 100% applications onloaded in block mode
2. ZERO false positive guarantee
3. 24-Hour SLA for virtually patching critical vulnerabilities.

Embedded DAST Scanner and Pen Testing

This is unique to AppTrana as it is built on the principle of “Risk-Based” application security. The embedded AI enabled DAST scanner could be configured to scan web and API applications daily or at any frequency.

Then the dashboard provides a view of how many open vulnerabilities are already protected by core rules and how many will require custom rules (virtual patches).

It is a simple 1-click to request a custom rule for any open vulnerability. The rule will be created within 24 hours for all critical vulnerabilities, and the managed services team will act as an extended SOC team to test for false positives.

The premium plan also has an option for manual penetration testing, including one revalidation.

Request Inspection Size and Response Timeout

AppTrana, by default, allows you to inspect requests up to 134MB, and the response doesn’t time out until five minutes.

Now coming to the cons:

Legacy API Support

For API security, AppTrana WAAP doesn’t support legacy API formats such as SOAP.

Threat Intelligence

AppTrana mostly relies on third-party feeds for threat intelligence and doesn’t nearly have as many people in the threat intelligence team as Cloudflare has.

See AI-powered AppTrana WAAP in action:

 

2. Akamai

Akamai was one of the first products that protected websites from attacks. It is the oldest product of its kind that is still being used, while Google bought a similar product called Sanctum.

Akamai App & API Protector is a modern tool that combines different types of protection, such as guarding against attacks, preventing overload on a website, stopping harmful bots, and securing APIs, all in one solution.

Akamai is also the largest CDN provider in the world. Because of its expertise in CDN, Akamai is particularly popular in areas like media, gaming, and streaming.

Here are some of the pros of using Akamai:

Adaptive Security

Akamai has 400+ security researchers who update security constantly. They use machine learning and real-time threat intelligence to keep the Adaptive Security Engine up to date. Akamai claims that this process reduces false positives by 5X.

While the scale of Cloudflare regarding the number of websites behind the WAAP is unparalleled, Akamai is also very good as it has several large Fortune 500 customers, and the big security research team provides solid threat intelligence.

Prolexic

Prolexic is Akamai’s DDoS protection service, supported by a 20 Tbps network for defending against DDoS attacks. It includes a SOCC (Security Operations Command Center) that offers round-the-clock support for a fully managed DDoS protection solution.

Additionally, Prolexic provides a Network Cloud Firewall, which allows IT teams to automate or manually control access control lists.

Page Integrity Manager

Akamai’s Page Integrity Manager safeguards websites against JavaScript threats like web skimming, Formjacking, and Magecart attacks. It identifies compromised JavaScript activities and reduces data theft and user experience tampering.

The solution operates within the user’s web browser, monitoring all JavaScript executions on protected pages. It can be quickly deployed within minutes to begin analyzing script executions instantly.

Now coming to the cons:

Pricing

Even in the premium end of the market, Akamai is more expensive than most of the other WAAP providers. If you can afford Akamai, especially with managed services, it really does work well.

Payload Inspection Size

Like Cloudflare, Akamai also inspects a maximum payload size of 128KB. In fact, the default configuration is only 8KB, which must be increased through the configuration.

False Positives

Like other leading WAAP providers, effectively handling false positives can be challenging with Akamai, especially if you lack certified in-house security engineers or haven’t subscribed to the managed services add-on.

3. Imperva

Imperva states that over 90% of WAAP deployments operate in block mode. Apart from AppTrana, which claims 100% in block mode, only Imperva and Fastly mention this figure on their websites.

This is likely due to the efforts of Imperva Research Labs, which conducts thorough testing to minimize false positives before implementing blocking rules. Additionally, Imperva is one of the few WAAP providers that offer Runtime Application Self-Protection (RASP) capabilities.

Here are some of the pros of using Imperva:

Hybrid Deployment

Certain industries and government organizations that deal with sensitive data may prefer an on-premise system, and Imperva provides that option. In addition to on-premise solutions, Imperva also offers a cloud-based Web Application Firewall (WAF). Organizations opting for a hybrid WAAP strategy can rely on Imperva’s comprehensive offerings.

Integrations

Imperva is well known for its seamless integrations with data warehouses, SIEM tools, and various DevOps tools. It offers integrations with popular platforms such as Amazon S3, Elastic, Splunk, Terraform, and more, allowing for smooth connectivity and compatibility.

RASP

To further minimize false positives and defend against unknown attack patterns, Imperva provides RASP, a solution that offers advanced protection. RASP can analyze east-west traffic to eliminate insider threats as well effectively.

Imperva supports a wide range of popular runtimes and databases, including Java, Node JS, SQL Server, Oracle, and more, ensuring comprehensive coverage for various applications and environments.

Now let’s discuss the limitations of Imperva.

Managed Services is an Add-On

If you want a managed WAF, you’ll have to subscribe to the managed services that are an add-on. The pricing could be like what Cloudflare charges.

API Discovery is an Add-On

Since the world is moving towards an API economy and API discovery is the #1 challenge when it comes to API security, paying extra for this feature might not be ideal. Other WAAP providers, such as AppTrana, bundle it in the pricing. In fact, the AppTrana license also includes penetration testing of API endpoints, a service that none of the WAAP providers offer.

4. Fastly

Fastly, like Imperva, claims that over 90% of WAAP deployments are in block mode. Only AppTrana WAAP has a higher block mode percentage at 100%.

A significant factor contributing to this is Fastly’s proprietary SmartParse technology, which enhances anomaly detection without excessive reliance on signatures.

Fastly is also renowned for its seamless integrations with SIEM tools, Slack, DevOps tools, and more, offering enhanced connectivity and compatibility options.

Here are some of the pros of using Fastly:

Network Learning Exchange (NLX)

Fastly’s NLX is a unique IP reputation feed that utilizes anonymized data from thousands of distributed software agents to identify confirmed malicious activity. NLX identifies attack patterns across Fastly’s customer network, enabling proactive alerts for defending web applications and APIs.

SmartParse

Fastly’s SmartParse is an exclusive technology that evaluates the context and execution of each request to detect malicious or anomalous payloads. SmartParse allows minimal tuning and immediate threat detection, aiming to minimize false positives and provide instant protection.

Flexible Deployment Options

Fastly offers the most versatile deployment options for WAF in the market. It can protect applications in containers, on-premises, in the cloud, or at the edge, all through one integrated solution.

Coming to the limitations of Fastly as a Cloudflare replacement.

Managed Services and Support

Like Cloudflare, Fastly managed services are only available in the ultimate plan. So, you have no option to choose managed services for the starter and advantage plans.

If you want a managed WAF that will help you with virtual patches, DDoS monitoring, latency monitoring, and custom workflow-based bot rules, you have no choice other than the ultimate plan.

Support

Even phone and chat support are only available in the ultimate plan. In addition, the 24/7/365 support for general inquiries is only available in San Francisco, London, or Tokyo business hours.

5. AWS WAF

Given AWS’s leadership position in the public cloud market, AWS WAF is a popular choice for organizations already on AWS.

Here are some of the pros of using AWS WAF:

Flexibility in Deploying Rulesets

Major providers such as Fortinet, F5, and so on provide rulesets for AWS. These offer additional protection over the out-of-the-box rulesets that AWS provides. There’s a nominal subscription fee for using these rules, and you’ll also be billed on the traffic that is inspected through these.

Pricing

AWS WAF is a complete pay-as-you-go model, and you’ll only get billed for add-ons such as AWS Shield, custom rules, bandwidth, etc.

Here are the cons of using AWS WAF:

AWS Shield Advanced is Expensive 

AWS Shield Advanced has a flat billing charge that starts at $3000 per month and is a managed service for DDoS. If you want good DDoS protection, Cloudflare and AppTrana provide unmetered DDoS at a price that is a small fraction of this.

Notably, Cloudflare offers unmetered DDoS protection through an add-on, accompanied by a fee of $.05 for every 10,000 requests. On the other hand, AppTrana seamlessly incorporates unmetered DDoS protection into all plans, eliminating the need for any extra charges.

No Managed Service

AWS doesn’t provide any managed service for WAF outside the DDoS service in AWS Shield.

The only way you can get managed service from AWS for custom rules and false positive monitoring is by entering large five-six figure contracts with system integrators.

If managed WAF is one of the reasons why you are looking for a Cloudflare alternative, then AWS is definitely not the answer.

Verdict

If you are looking for a managed WAF with a tight budget, AppTrana is a strong contender. You can even test-run the WAAP platform for free, where the solution engineers configure the WAAP on a QA or production environment. 

If you are looking for an alternative because of some application-level challenges that Cloudflare is not able to resolve, you’ll not go wrong with AppTrana, Akamai, Imperva, or Fastly. The key is to start a trial and then see how the firewall works with your specific application.

Even in the above alternatives, AppTrana and Imperva are cost-effective, especially when you want to protect hundreds of applications.

While this blog covers the top 5 alternatives to Cloudflare, check out our detailed blog comparing 17 WAF (WAAP) providers in the market.

Stay tuned for more relevant and interesting security articles. Follow Indusface on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn.